FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. -- Police said they are seeking the safe return of a 9-year-old Florida boy who failed to return home after visiting a family he had just met.

Isaiah Thompson last was seen by his mother, Jasmure Sanders, July 21 when he left his home in Fort Lauderdale to spend the night in Miami with a boy he met while visiting Orlando, Fla., in June, police said.

Sanders, who doesn't have a car, told police the boy's mother, whom she knows only as Renee, picked Isaiah up and then called the next day to asked if he could spend another night, The South Florida Sun-Sentinel reported Monday.

On July 24, Isaiah called his mother from Renee's phone to say he was ready to come home. When Sanders tried to call later, she told police no one answered Renee's phone, The Sun-Sentinel reported.

"She finally reported him missing July 28," said Sgt. Frank Sousa of the Fort Lauderdale police.